A vise apparatus having a base portion is typically used to hold a workpiece which is to be machined or otherwise operated upon. There are various types of vises such as for example, a machinist's bench vise, a bench and pipe vise, a clamp base bench vise, a bench chain vise, and a bench yoke vise. The vise apparatus is typically fixed to a workbench to enable an operator to hold the workpiece firmly and perform a variety of machining operations such as drilling, cutting, and threading.
Generally, a vise apparatus consists of a holding arrangement to hold the workpiece at one end and support the workpiece at the other end. Usually, the holding arrangement in the vise apparatus, particularly in a bench yoke vise, consists of a clamping arrangement in order to clamp the workpiece by a pair of jaws. Typically, in such clamping arrangements, one of the jaws is fixed and the other jaw is displaceable so as to enable a workpiece with varied sizes and shapes to be operated on while clamped by the vise apparatus.
Usually, a workpiece with a regular and defined surface can readily be held in between the jaws of a vise apparatus. However, for a workpiece having an irregular or an undefined surface, a chain like structure is typically used for clamping the workpiece in the vise apparatus.
Once the workplace is firmly positioned and retained within a vise apparatus, various machining processes like cutting, threading, etc., can be performed on the workpiece. Additionally, in certain applications, bending operations are required to be performed on the workpiece. Bending operations typically performed on the workpiece generally involve incremental bending. However, it is not feasible to perform bending operations on the workpiece while in a clamped position. Hence, a separate arrangement or device is required for performing bending operations on the workpiece.
However, shifting the workpiece from one work bench or device to another for performing the bending operations and the machining operations on the workpiece is time consuming because such shifting involves multiple clamping and removing operations of the workpiece.
Bending fixtures provided on a vise apparatus are known so as to enable multiple operations at a single workbench and on the same vise apparatus. However, a conventional vise apparatus with a bending fixture is typically limited in the range of positions and orientations in which the workpiece can be placed prior to and during the bending operations.
Accordingly, a need exists for a vise apparatus that includes a bending fixture which addresses the drawbacks of conventional vise apparatuses with bending fixtures.